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Tips for Successful Appointment Setting

Selling any product or service, including those from reputed companies, requires skill along with persistence. Before your sales person interacts with potential clients on a one-to-one basis, the process of appointment setting is both vital and effective in approaching a potential customer.

Irrespective of the product or the service being sold, most business enterprises rely on efficient appointment setting to target their potential customers and schedule a sales appointment.

This article focuses on tips or strategies that sales teams can use to confirm business appointments with prospective customers.

Leveraging multiple communication channels.

Appointment setting is not restricted to cold calling, even though most potential clients would prefer to speak to a business executive before making a high-value purchase. As indicated in this technology article, business enterprises communicate with their customers through multiple modes of online channels including e-mail marketing, voice messages, and social media marketing. This is required as most sales prospects often neglect one form of communication, hence multiple sales touch points are required for your prospect to respond to your message.

Reaching out during “off-hours.”

Most appointment setting calls are made during business hours, when most business prospects are likely to be tied up with their professional commitments. Appointment setting calls, during off-business hours including early mornings or late in the evening can be more successful. Additionally, sending client e-mails during early morning hours can have a higher response ratio, as your client has more time to respond on the same day.

Keep your appointment setting call short.

As a salesperson, you must remember that appointment setting calls are aimed at only fixing sales appointments, and not for the sales pitch. Keep your call short by focusing on what is needed for your sales prospect to agree to an appointment. Avoid talking about your product offering in detail.

Coordinate with your product marketing team.

For more success with your appointment settings, coordinate with your company’s marketing team for information about client prospects, who have interacted with your product brand previously. Additional avenues of client prospecting can be gathered from users, who have downloaded intellectual proprietary material including technical white papers or attended webinars. Website visitors and company event attendees can also be potential targets for appointment setting.

Leverage on customer referrals.

Referrals from satisfied customers are a major bonus for any sales team. Prospective buyers are more open to your appointment setting calls, if you have been referred by their personal or professional contacts. Ensure that you follow up with your existing customers and ask them for referrals, particularly if they have an efficient network of potential contacts.

Conclusion

An organized and consistent approach toward appointment settings is the only pathway to successful sales prospecting in any industry. The tips and strategies outlined in this article have worked successfully for sales teams, irrespective of their industry domain or type of product offering.